Papers concerning Robertson's Colony in Texas, Volume 10 Page: 62
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McLean, PAPERS CONCERNING ROBERTSON'S COLONY IN TEXAS, Volume X
62
issued - Samuel M. Williams, Francis W. Johnson, and Robert Peebles, knowing that
the State Treasury was then empty, had applied to Governor Agustfn Viesca, under the
Law of April 19, 1834, offering to place at the disposal of the Governor 1,000 able-bodied
men, "with all the equipment of war, for the term of one year," promising to have them
ready within four months, provided that, in compensation for their labor (that is, the
labor of Williams, Johnson, and Peebles) the State of Coahuila and Texas would grant
them 400 leagues of land, and would guarantee for them their private contracts which
they would make with each man according to his rank in the Militia, and also provided
they were given the rules for their organization, "and the necessary protection for the
Political Chiefs"
Governor Viesca accepted their proposal on May 13, 1835, on the following
conditions:
1. Williams, Johnson, and Peebles were to raise 500 men who were "experts in
the handling of firearms," at a place designated by the State, within a period of two
months, and another 500 within four months, counting from the date of the contract.
2. The empresarios were to conduct voluntary recruitment, and no other kind,
and they (presumably the recruits) were to elect their chiefs, organizing themselves
into companies, except for the first ones, who were to be appointed by the empresarios.
3. The individual contracts made in this manner were to be guaranteed by the
State, and each man was to be offered an amount of land which was to be agreed upon
according to his rank, and for this purpose the empresarios could dispose of up to 400
leagues (1,771,360 acres) from the public domain of the State.
4. The empresarios were to issue to each recruit a document stating the amount
of land contracted for.
5. The Government was to regulate the issuing of titles, in the manner which it
considered most convenient, and the recipients were to be placed in possession by the
alcaldes of the municipalities.
6. It was to be "the strictest obligation of the empresarios to see that the militiamen
are provided with good arms and supplied with gunpowder and munitions for the
year of the expedition, regardless of how much may be consumed by the repeated
attacks which may occur during the war."
7. When the year was over, the 1,000 firearms which had been used on the expedition
were to be left at the disposal of the Government, and, if there happened to be
any among them that belonged to the militiamen, these were to be replaced by the
empresarios. The same thing was to be done with regard to cartridge belts and the other
instruments of war which had been furnished.
8. Once the militiamen had been placed under the orders of the Government, at
the place designated, the Government was to be responsible for feeding them, and it
was to provide horses for those who needed them.
9. It was understood that the militiamen, in occupying their lands, would be
scattered throughout the different settlements, so they would be subject to call by the
respective unit in that area.
10. In all other cases not specifically provided for in this document, the empresarios
and settlers were to be governed by the Constituent Act, the Federal Constitution,
the general laws, and the Constitution and the special laws of the State. In the
place where the Executive Power resided, there was to be an agent of these empresarios
to supply the arms, munitions, and other things specified in Article 6.
11. Failure to comply with any condition of this contract would render it null and
void.
The agreement was signed in Monclova on May 13, 1835, by Agustfn Viesca,
Governor, and the three empresarios: Samuel M. Williams, F. W. Johnson, and R. Peebles,
plus J. Mariano Irala, Secretary.
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McLean, Malcolm Dallas, 1913-. Papers concerning Robertson's Colony in Texas, Volume 10, book, 1983; Arlington, Tex.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth28587/m1/63/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas at Arlington Library.